Woman of all ages can easily convince their husbands to see Spy Game. The younger women will look forward to seeing Brad Pitt and the older women will want to see their old favorite Robert Redford. Everybody wins as it is a movie that men will enjoy also.
Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) is about to retire from the CIA when his superiors call him back to take charge of one more operation. Since Nathan had originally recruited Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) as an agent and worked closely with him, the CIA wants to hear from Nathan all that he knows about Bishop. Flashbacks reveal that they worked well together until Bishop formed a romantic relationship with an Englishwoman, Elizabeth Hadley, who had recently been confined to a Chinese prison for a past offense against that country. The situation is delicate since the United States is about to enter a new trade agreement with China and Bishop’s connection to Hadley is called into question.
Nathan remains loyal to Bishop even though Bishop left his employ and supposedly became a rogue operator because of his relationship with Elizabeth Hadley. Since Bishop has also been taken into custody by the Chinese, Nathan realizes that his superiors are searching for information about Bishop that will justify allowing Bishop to be killed by the Chinese, salvaging the future trade agreement with the United States.
It is interesting to watch the cat-and-mouse game played by Nathan as he dupes his superiors, slips documents under his jacket, and is able to engage the U. S. Navy Seals in rescuing both Elizabeth Hadley and Tom Bishop who are confined to the Chinese prison. Robert Redford has lost none of his charm. It is a toss-up as to which of these men, Redford or Pitt, touches the heart of the female audience more deeply.
At risk of spoiling the film for readers, I might mention the beautiful ending. Early in the game, when Nathan and Bishop were close comrades, Bishop took Nathan to dinner on his birthday and presented him with a whiskey flask. Bishop jokingly called the evening Operation Dinner Out. In the last scene of the film, we see the rescued Bishop in a Navy Seals helicopter, with his face bruised beyond recognition. The pilot mentions in passing that the rescue mission was named Operation Dinner Out. Bishop then realizes that his old friend was responsible for saving him from execution at the prison.
As a woman, I do not often watch action and war movies which appeal mostly to men, but I had to make an exception in this case because of the stellar cast. And I surely got my money’s worth.
Sources:
Movie – Spy Game (2001)
www.imdb.com/title/tt0266987
